Friday Things

#2 – How insanely HUGE is his paw?! It looks like I’m shaking hands with a lion!

2. Thank you for the sweet birthday wishes on Tuesday! You all are the best! I enjoyed a great day – a fantastic lunch with my Chief Culinary Consultant, and then the hockey game in the evening. It was perfect!

3. So, funny story. A few nights ago my Chief Culinary Consultant snapped a photo of me eating a baked potato while Duke and Einstein were begging. He showed me the picture and I was stunned – my left hand holding the fork looked totally distorted and weird. I was all, “oh my gosh, what am I doing?!” He proceeded to tell me that’s how I’ve held my fork since he met me and he always thought it was a little weird but never said anything. AGH! I looked like a cavewoman holding that thing! I immediately Googled how to hold silverware appropriately… oddly enough, I hold my knife the correct way, but for some reason the fork in the left hand was an issue. Thankfully, I have resolved the situation. Needless to say, I never learned how to walk with a stack of books on my head

4. Did you see this list on Buzzfeed? — 18 Songs From the ’90s You Grew Up Singing But Shouldn’t Have… Seriously! Most of these were popular when I was in the 11-16 age range, and my friends and I listened to just about every single one. Good God, parenting a teenage girl must be a serious nightmare. So much more perspective when you’re, you know, 34 as opposed to 15.

5. Lay some recommendations on me… what is your favorite Internet radio service (aside from Pandora)?

6. Ahhh, this is so true:

7. Have any of you purchased clothes or swimsuits from Athleta? I just got a catalog in the mail and am digging a lot of the pieces. Wondering if the fit is good and if they use quality fabrics?

8. For some reason, I’ve been convinced for years that I didn’t like Cadbury Creme Eggs. Convinced, I tell you. Then, the other day I was standing in the checkout at the grocery store and there was a huge display of them, taunting me. So, I bought one. I ate it, and… I actually liked it. I guess I don’t hate them after all! I’ve confused myself.

9. As part of my birthday gift, my sister is going to teach me how to knit (along with outfitting me with some supplies) – yay! Do you have any patterns (for anything, really) that would be good for a beginner?

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78 Responses to “Friday Things”

Check out Spotify! It’s a great streaming radio service. You can either choose specific songs you want to stream and even add to your playlists for free, or you can choose a song or a band and listen to a radio station around it (similar to Pandora). Happy belated birthday

We share the same birthday! Happy belated birthday to you. Go on Ravelry.com. There are thousands of free knitting patterns. If you a fan of the tv show, Once Upon A Time, they have the pattern for Emma’s baby blanket. It’s very easy and turned out beautiful. Have fun knitting. I know you’ll be great!

I have ordered clothing from Athleta before I can’t say about swimwear but the workout pants are great! I can’t say enough they wash great, wear nice too, I have had 6+ pairs. I was worried by the price but def. worth it. (I’m 5’4 the ankle is good, reg. length way to long). Tops/sweaters can run a bit slim so watch out. I keep an eye on sale pgs. GOOD LUCK!

Hello BEB …
Just wanted to share how I L O V E and look soooo fwd to “Friday things” I’m sure many
People feel the same way .. So I speak for all of us. Thank u for unbelievably delicious and uncomplicated recipes .. For sharing pics of those beautiful pups of urs and for ur dedication to everything u do . It is soooo appreciated.

Knitting is a great hobby!!! I also agree with Joni that dishcloths are great for beginners. They are a quick knit and you don’t have to invest a lot of money in yarn (there are some nice organic cotton yarns). Once you feel a little more confident, Ravelry has thousands of patterns to choose from. I do recommend buying the best yarn you can afford. It’s worth it!!! Happy Knitting!!!

I’m wearing a pair of Athleta’s Bettona Classic pants right now. My absolute favorites! I have a bunch of pieces, including a swimsuit that was my first ever Athleta purchase. It’s held up great over the years and I definitely recommend them. I don’t knit, but taught myself some basic crocheting and the easiest things were coasters, washcloths, and scarves. Anything where I just had to go in a straight line, using one type of stitch, and just turn around once in a while! Oh, and where gauge wasn’t so important because my stitches were nowhere near tight enough for much else! But it was fun to learn and do…you’ll like it!

I taught myself to knit by trial and error. Start out with something simple like a scarf or a dishcloth. For the dishcloth make sure you use cotton yarn (sugar and cream) is the brand I use you can scrub most anything with it they are great to use for glass wear. Since you are just learning try the Continental method you can knit much faster if you learn this method wish I had known about it when I was learning to knit. You tube is great if you forget how to do a stitch or need a tutorial for something. Good luck.

I send these thoughts. I used YouTube to learn to knit dishcloths and am doing the continental method. Dishcloths are a good place to start as they’re small and functional and the inevitable beginner mistakes don’t really matter, you can still use them. Good luck!

http://www.redheart.comhttp://www.lionbrand.comhttp://www.knitpicks.com
These sites have quite a few free patterns that are fairly simple to learn with.
I also purchased a book when I first started knitting called The Knitting Book it has tons of beginner information and knitting stitches. I strongly recommend buying something like this to help you learn new knitting techniques.

First, thanks for your response last week regarding the snarly faces “the boys” make when being playful. When I opened today’s post and looked at the picture of Duke and Einstein, my first thought was….OMG, Duke’s paw is HUGE! I rememebr noticing that when he was stll small…his paws looked enormous and I was imagining a giant golden dog in your future.
So, now I’m so curious to see the picture of your fork holding position. I have been playing around trying to figure out what a cavewoman hold might look like. Who knows, maybe I do it as well??
Thanks for the always fun and informative Friday posts.

I LOVE Athleta! Everything that I have from there is good quality, washes well, holds its shape, and lasts forever. I have several swimsuits from there (and have had a couple of them for YEARS). I like them because of their bra-sized swimwear (which is crucial when you need lots of support). They’re expensive but definitely worth the investment.

I’m wearing Athleta’s Kickbooty pants right now! I have 2 pairs and I love them, wear them all the time, and they still look new 6 months later. I also have a couple shirts and a skirt from them that I love as well. (I’m 5’2″ and 115 and wear an XS in all the items I have from them if that helps.)

Yes, Duke-“Do you solumnly swear to be the best puppy ever?” How cute is that? My favorite things to knit are scarves and these wonderful dishcloths that my mom used to knit-(she kept a drawer full just in case). They are a great way to get your hands trained to do the right thing. AND you can do one in around an hour. I will tell you, once you start using them you are hooked! If you would like the instrux, just let me know-I would be happy to share

I have several Athleta swimsuits – they’re great! High-quality, comfortable and not-too-skimpy. They’re great for mixing and matching the prints and solids to make unique combinations. Also, their return policy is wonderful. There’s a store location in Shadyside – they may have swimsuits if you’d prefer to try on before ordering.

Michelle, You take the best pictures! I so look forward to pictures of Einstein and Duke on Friday mornings. Puts a smile on my face. Thanks for all the great recipes and hard work you put into your blog.

I started out knitting dishcloths and have never graduated from that! I wish I could finish another knitting project but never get enough time in 1 spot to do it. Some of my friends who knit do it so quickly that I am intimidated by them. I say GO FOR IT and don’t let anything keep you from it. It can be so very relaxing and enjoyable to do! Good luck with it – please show us what you make. I enjoyed signing up at Ravelry.com as they have many free patterns and you can do an advanced search by the supplies you currently have on hand and your skill level and how much (if anything) you’re willing to pay for a pattern. Very cool site! JLL

I like Athleta, have shorts, skirts and a few workout tops. They are a tad pricey but the quality is definitely there. Title Nine is another great store, where I’ve gotten my last two swimsuits. Love the puppy pictures every Friday. They definitely make me smile! Thanks!

I picked up knitting this winter. I am a total beginner. I am constantly having to google what different technical terms and watching youtube for instructions. After knitting a scarf, (that took much longer than expected) I searched for a project that was less time consuming. I landed on these fun wash cloths. They have a vintage feel to them, and they are fun to give away. You can easily finish one in an evening. The link is below.http://www.simplynotable.com/2013/the-almost-lost-washcloth-pattern/

Haha! Not a camper here, either. Although, my sister has a RV and it’s not bad with electricity, flushing toilets and showers!
I’m not a Cadbury Creme Egg fan either, but I do adore their chocolate. I almost bought some of their caramel eggs until I saw the calories. Eek!
I’m trying out your ciabatta bread recipe today!! It should be yummy with the black bean soup I’m making, too.

Athleta swimwear is great! We’ve bought several things over the last couple of years for our two teen girls – mostly modest swimwear – and have been very pleased. It’s worth spending the money on better quality swimwear because they wear and wash it a lot! Take the plunge…I think you’d be very happy=)

Some internet radio stations I love to use are, Grooveshark, which is really cool because you can actually search songs and play the ones you want, it’s not like pandora where they play you songs you don’t want to hear lol. But what’s best about it is you can create your own playlist of songs and you can either have their app or just use their website on your phone, and play your music whenever you want. OR if you want you can just listen to their own created radio stations, which are commercial free and you can skip as many times as you want. Slacker radio is cool for when you want to hear different genres, because that’s how of the radio stations are named, like “New Pop First” or “90’s R&B”. So yeah I hope you check these out.

I would suggest “Spotify” – I have it and love it….I never really sang or listened to those songs from the 90’s – go figure….lol…It is hard being a parent to a girl at any age…lol…the boys (Duke and Einstein) look so cute and well behaved:)
Good luck with the knitting…I’ve tried to learn twice and it wasn’t pretty…so now I’ve thrown in the towel and have bought a knitting machine..will see how that goes..lol…have a good weekend!

Love Athleta. The Relay Capri cannot be beat at any price and last forever. They are expensive but not as expensive as Lululemon. I would say the tops run on the small side but bottoms true to size. My ‘go to’ swim suit is the ‘Not-So-String Bikini’…awesome. Adjustability (is that a word???) of a string with more coverage They also have lots of cup size options which are great. Before Gap bought them they had a lot of items that were made in America. Not so much anymore…Also gone are the BEST EVER annual warehouse clearance sales. Oh well…still a great company. Brick and mortar store here in San Francisco which is nice…
Happy Belated Birthday!!!!

Yay for knitting! Ravelry.com is my go-to for patterns. You have to sign up, but it’s free. There is an advanced pattern search where you can apply all sorts of filters (like needle size, skill level…even the type of yarn). For a true beginner, I always think that making a simple garter stitch scarf is a great jumping-off point. You’ll learn how to cast on, knit, and bind off. Alternatively, you could do stockinette (alternating rows of knitting and purling). Or just knit oodles of dishcloths/doggy paw wiper-offers.

There is also a great knitting community on reddit: reddit.com/r/knitting. The folks there are helpful and knowledgeable, and there are lots of beginners! Have fun with it. It’s so nice to be able to put on a pair of socks or throw on a scarf and just say “Yep, I made that.”

I love spotify! It’s awesome and I’ve yet to have it mess up on me. As for athleta, you cannot go wrong. I teach water fitness classes and have had the same bathing suit for over 4 years. It has held up beautifully and the fit is amazing. I’ve loved everything I’ve ever ordered from them! Great that they have free return shipping!

Here’s a simple scarf pattern you can start with…cast on 24 stitches, then the pattern is knit 4, purl 4 and repeat that pattern all across. I just started knitting and this was pretty easy…although I did rip it out afew times until I was satisfied with the look of it. Good luck!!!